Toshiba TransferJet 16GB SDHC card launches July 31 in Japan

Following some trade show demos, Toshiba is officially introducing a new 16GB SDHC card with TransferJet technology. The card, which looks to be available in Japan only first, is able to wirelessly transfer photos and videos from a camera to a TransferJet-compatible device.

Sony introduced TransferJet technology in 2008, and previously included it in an 8GB Memory Stick card and Cyber-shot cameras like the DSC-TX7, but it never quite took off in those implementations. Toshiba's TransferJet SD card, rated as Class 10, is the first of its kind. It uses very short range wireless communication to transfer content at speeds up to 375Mbps (~47MB/s) to a compatible device, including the company's dongles for iOS and Android devices. It's not quite up to date, but Toshiba's (delightfully terrible) 2013 TransferJet promotional video is really too good (bad) not to share.

Pricing has not yet been detailed. The TransferJet SD card will launch in Japan; further availability isn't clear at this time. See the Japanese press release for more information.

Comments

I tried the Pentax FluCard. I ended up returning it. It kept on dropping the link to my tablet and was dreadfully slow. It was more of an impediment than an enabler. Until the tech's can produce a card that is really fast, reliable and easy to use, I'm staying with a Micro USB connection to my tablet which shows the picture after it's been shot. No live preview, but good for customers to have an idea of what's going on.

I am sick and tired with the Flashair, it took centuries to download photos to my Android phone, the app keeps interrupting and look for nearby hotspot even connect to it, in instead of staying with the card that already connected and downloading, I don't expect much fun with that Transfer Jet thing that requires an adaptor and only works in close distance.

OH man. After a video like that I'm surprised they are trying again with another dead technology. If a video like that can makes its way out of the company it's quite clear they have some serious problems. I admit I had to stop the movie when it got to "The Drive", I couldn't take any more.

The fact that the video is from 2013 means the market has rejected it. Good luck finding another person in the world who have a dongle on the phone. There is a good reason that world is going for WiFi, because it is universally available.

We mount various cameras and sensors on UAVs, in various ways...many are experimental and sometimes this means the cards are not easily accessible...to get to the card requires unmounting the camera then remounting it for the next mission which can chew time. This could save us time. 3cm is great!

"Sony introduced TransferJet technology in 2008, and previously included it in an 8GB Memory Stick card and Cyber-shot cameras like the DSC-TX7, but it never quite took off in those implementations."

Indeed, it doesn't mention CURRENT Sony participation - but perhaps you're missing the point - EthanP99 was (I believe) referencing the fact that Sony had ALREADY tried this technology back in 2008 and are now quite sensibly using WiFi like everyone else.

How can you possibly get that from what he wrote?His point was, clearly to *take a jab at Sony* for still being involved in the technology. If you rapidly scan the article, it might appear so, but they only mentioned Sony to show that this is not a new idea...I appreciate your help, but I can read quite well. ;)

The video is trying to define the "last centimeter" problem, for which there have been many solutions. There are two types of functions: ID exchange and high-speed data transfer. NFC and QR codes have won for IDs and 802.11 has won for high-speed transfer, whereas Transferjet could do both functions well.

The problem is that the USB2 dongle in the video is a terrible way to do this for a phone, etc. Sort of reminds me of the idea of having a car with cool upward-pivoting doors like a Delorean, but having them swing outward so much that you couldn't open them enough to squeeze through if a car was parked next to you. ;-) Sony is the consortium leader and Toshiba is making an SD card implementation... I'm sure the dorky dongle is not the preferred implementation.

But is power consumption really a huge concern for the kind of applications people would actually use this card for? I transfer the odd image off of my RX100M3 and a7M2 using WiFi - it's probably on for a couple of minutes per battery charge at most and turns itself on and off as required for data transfer. The one usage case where long term power consumption would actually be an issue - remote viewfinder - is not possible with add-on wireless solutions anyway.

So far as I can see, there's no need for companies to try to dilute the market with incompatible, proprietary standards that are only going to give the average consumer more headaches.

@Azurael. But they try to do it anyhow. It is a kind of struggle where some win and some lose. Lots of people want to make a winner. Therefore we get lots of disturbing unnecessary confusion, but sometimes the result is something extraordinary. Even more irritating - there is no guarantee that this fantastic stuff has any success.

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